Mr. Chartwell by Rebecca Hunt

This imaginative story, set in 1964 London, begins when Esther Hammerhans, a librarian in the House of Commons, welcomes a new lodger. It’s Black Pat, as Mr. Chartwell prefers to be addressed, “a black dog,” a dark presence trying to enter Esther’s world.  Esther finds him witty and charming but also annoying and smelly yet she may want him to stay.  Black Pat’s a specter but he seems completely real to Esther. Meanwhile just before his retirement from Parliament, 89-year-old Winston Churchill awakens to Black Pat visiting his bedroom as he’s done for many years.  Black Pat is the black dog of depression that’s hounded Churchill for much of his life. Esther, still grieving the loss of her young husband, is ripe for the seductive powers of depression in this original look at the grip depression holds on so many.

Esther’s friends recognize her grief and a new co-worker offers companionship and a silly sarcasm that awakens her but is that enough to stave off the black dog?  Esther is called to Chartwell, Churchill’s home, to take dictation for his retirement speech.  That it happens to be the anniversary of her husband’s death is a coincidence that works in author Hunt’s apt hands. Will Esther and Churchill help each other or will the black dog prevail? 

This novel will make readers laugh out loud at the irony and clever bon-mots that the bête noire utters. Then within seconds, the careful layering of the descent and struggles the characters endure as they fight their depression will have readers close to tears. Rarely does such a singularly original novel have such charm and universal appeal.  This tale is supremely engaging yet it will make readers ponder why some master darkness while others succumb to it.  Readers that love language and dry, dry humor will find that the wittiness makes the darkness palatable. Black Pat’s ebullient character actually makes the mine field of depression captivating and he seems ripe for a movie version.

One question this book raises is whether people who suffer depression would want to read this and if they did could it help them.  A lay person shouldn’t answer that question yet somehow the sensitivity of this novel makes it seem that it might be welcomed by those with depression or those hoping to understand them.

Summing it Up: Read this original and inspiring debut novel that shows the odd connection between Winston Churchill and a young librarian for the imaginative language, humor, and perceptive look at the world of depression.

Rating: 5 stars    
Category: Fiction, Sushi with Green Tea Sorbet, Book Club

Publication date: February 8, 2011

Read the First Chapter: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/books/review/excerpt-mr-chartwell-by-rebecca-hunt.html?_r=1

What Others are Saying:

The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/oct/23/mr-chartwell-rebecca-hunt-review

Kirkus Reviews: http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/fiction/rebecca-hunt/mr-chartwell/

The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/books/review/book-review-mr-chartwell-by-rebecca-hunt.html
Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/01/AR2011030106377.html

Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff

Lost in Shangri-La: the Epic True Story of a Plane Crash into the Stone Age is the page-turning true story of a 1945 accident in a remote New Guinea valley inhabited by natives thought to be cannibals. Upon the discovery of the valley, Col. Ray Elsmore, commander of the 322^nd Troup Carrier Wing of the U.S. Army Air Forces, led several fly-overs to show this valley, dubbed “Shangri-La,” to the men and women under his command.  One such sortie ended in a crash leaving only three survivors.  Using journals, logs and photographs from the survivors and rescuers, Zuckoff weaves a story that seems more like fiction than the accurate historical account that it is.

The book is at its best when telling of the three survivors and the grace and courage they exhibited just after the crash. Margaret Hastings, a 30-year-old WAC, whose burns and gangrene seemed unbearable, endured pain and hunger with kindness and humor.  Her journal entries about the flight, the crash and the natives that befriended them vividly portray the incident.  Kenneth Decker, a tech sergeant with a severe head injury, burns and gangrene, is a profile in courage and Lieutenant John McCollum provides the cool, strong, yet compassionate leadership that saves them.  Adding to the flavor of the tale is Zuckoff’s even-handed depiction of the rescuers including heroic Filipino-American medics Doc Bulato and Rammy Ramirez that tenderly cared for Hastings and Decker’s injuries.  Zuckoff also shows the natives as multi-dimensional not as the media and rescuers expected them to be.

Zuckoff carefully depicts the naiveté of the officers and pilots as they venture into enemy territory on a joy ride yet he never editorializes on their decisions.  He explores American chutzpah with word pictures that demonstrate the views that were prevalent in 1945.  The bonus epilogue offers an intriguing view into the lives of the natives, survivors and rescuers after the war. It also makes the reader ponder the sociological implications of the events.

Summing it Up: Read this book to learn about survival and a daring rescue in the jungles of New Guinea near the end of World War II.  Enjoy the cinematic, yet realistic, portrayal of the men and women who crashed, those that saved them and the natives they got to know.

Rating: 4 stars    
Category: Nonfiction, Super Nutrition, Book Club

Publication date: April 26, 2011

Author website: http://www.mitchellzuckoff.com/

What Others are Saying:

Kirkus Reviews: http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/non-fiction/mitchell-zuckoff/lost-shangri-la/#review

Publisher’s Weekly: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/reviews/single/164663-lost-in-shangri-la-the-epic-true-story-of-a-plane-crash-into-the-stone-age.html

“’Lost in Shangri-La’ is a movie waiting to be made.” – BookPage.

Little Princes by Conor Grennan

Little Princes: One Man’s Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal is a charming and thought-provoking narrative about a 29-year-old and his travels around the world including his three-month stop in Nepal to volunteer in an orphanage. Grennan acknowledges that the orphanage stint was something that would impress girls and look good on his resumé.   He never expected to fall in love with Nepal and a group of orphaned kids.  When Grennan met seven children that had been stolen from their families by traffickers he vowed to find them safe and secure homes. His subsequent travels and his commitment to the children are commendable but the thing that makes his story sing is his joy in the journey.  His brushes with kind strangers, parents that give up everything for their children, kidnapping, corruption, absurd regulations, and Maoist rebels that control vast areas paint a balanced portrait of Nepal as well. 

Connor Grennan loves “his” kids and the joy and fun he has with them is contagious.  The way the kids tackle him and play games with him illustrates that children are the same everywhere.  Grennan’s treks to find the children’s families, his sacrifices and his always infectious optimism make this a book that both informs and delights.

Toss in a long distance romance after Grennan meets and instantly falls for a woman who makes a brief visit and his search to find his Christian faith while honoring and appreciating the Buddhists and Hindus in his midst and you have a whale of a story.  A portion of the profits from the book go toward Next Generation Nepal (NGN) that Grennan founded to help reunite Nepalese orphans with their families.

Summing it Up: This book will inform and educate you about Nepal while making you smile.  If you liked Three Cups of Tea, you’ll love this charming and caring view into the lives of children in the mountains of Nepal. This would also be the perfect book to interest teens in reading and in learning about the world.  Even “reluctant reader” teenage boys would enjoy Grennan’s adventures.

Rating: 5 stars    
Category: Nonfiction, Soul Food, Super Nutrition, Book Club

Publication date: January 25, 2011

Author website: http://conorgrennan.com/

Reading Group Guide: http://conorgrennan.com/little-princes/reading-guide/

What Others are Saying:

School Library Journal: http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/adult4teen/2011/01/24/little-princes/

Publisher’s Weekly: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/bytopic/authors/interviews/article/45392-an-orphanage-in-nepal-pw-talks-with-connor-grennan.htm

You Know When the Men Are Gone by Siobhan Fallon

It would be almost impossible for anyone reading Siobhan Fallon’s gripping interrelated short stories to escape without asking what to do to respect, understand and support our military and their families in the suffering and life-altering experiences they  bear for us.  Bearing witness means experiencing the life of another then taking compassionate action.  Fallon’s tales weave a tapestry so colorful and with such intricate detail that they force the reader to become a part of the Fort Hood, Texas community. The question the reader must ask after finishing this book thus becomes, “what should I do to support these men and women and their families.”  When a work of fiction makes the reader feel compelled to mail copies to the Pentagon and to the President and Congress, it has hit the mark. Regardless of political leanings, everyone must read this book to understand just what we are asking our soldiers to bear in our name.

To use the word insightful to describe Fallon’s keen perception of both those who return from horror to those who lose the ones they love would be a gross understatement.  Fallon’s stories are perspicacious, that is, they are both discerning and acutely perceptive.  Fallon paints word pictures that are tight yet so vivid that they make the scenes glow in Technicolor.  In the story “Gold Star,” Josie Schaeffer is driving around the commissary parking lot looking for a space.  “She had forgotten it was payday.”  That sentence foreshadows what’s to come when “Checking her watch again, she finally pulled into the empty Gold Star Family designated spot in front.  She waited a moment, peering at herself in the mirror, composing her face into what she imagined an ordinary face looked like, tugging her mouth into a smile but then giving up. She knew the spouses walking by with their loaded carts were hesitating, trying not to stare into Josie’s window, trading lifted eyebrows with the other women passing.”   This is the mark of an exceptional writer; she shows us who and what Josie is instead of telling us.  Thus the reader enters the life of a Gold Star widow and begins to perceive what her world encompasses.

Fallon details the quotidian sounds of the ordinary on a military base – the thump of boots stomping and of “football games turned up too high” followed by the relative silence after massive units ship out.  She presents the fears of the women left behind – not just fears of husbands that might be injured or killed but fears that they might find comfort in another woman’s arms.  She inserts the reader into the trauma of the “lucky” ones who return looking like they haven’t been damaged.  Fallon demonstrates the psychological toll of Iraq and Afghanistan with the impact that Tim O’Brien brought to the Viet Nam War in The Things They Carried.  She forces the reader to look beyond the headlines yet she does it in such a sensitive and tender manner that it’s bearable.  This book is not depressing; it is realistic and compassionate. It’s also something of a page-turner which seems like an oxymoron as the reader must ponder what’s read.  But it’s so compelling that you simply can’t wait to see what happens next so thinking about what happens takes place as you put down the book.  It haunts you as you brush your teeth and for months after whenever Afghanistan or Iraq flash by on your television screen.

It’s surprising that this is Fallon’s debut as she’s such a polished and wise writer.  She’s used her experiences living at Fort Hood while her husband, an Army major, served two tours in Iraq and has translated them in to something universal that’s a gift to all readers.

Many book clubs don’t select short stories for discussion as they find it difficult to discuss a variety of plots.  This collection of interrelated stories would be exceptional for book clubs as there are so many challenging topics to explore and as the stories are all related by place and by military service.

Summing it Up:   Regardless of whether you ever read short stories, you must read this book.  Yes, it’s sad; yes it’ll make you ponder things that aren’t easy but in the end you’ll be thankful that you shared this tender experience.  This book will change you; it probably won’t change your political beliefs about war but it will change your feelings about those who serve to preserve your safety. 

Rating: 5 stars   
Category: Fiction, Gourmet, Tapas, Book Club

Publication date: January 20, 2011

Author website: http://www.siobhanfallon.com/

What Others are Saying:

New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/11/books/11book.html

Publisher’s Weekly: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/reviews/single/60664-you-know-when-the-men-are-gone.html

Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2011/01/24/AR2011012405536.html

Caribou Island by David Vann

Author David Vann conveys the elemental landscape of the Alaskan wilderness as a metaphor for recent retirees Irene and Gary and their unraveling marriage in his heartbreaking novel Caribou Island. If this were a meal, it would be a gourmet treasure, a palette of colors, textures and ingredients so unusual as to make the diner gasp at its unique nature.  However,  the hopelessness of the protagonists’ lives makes it almost impossible to take more than small bites of this tome. Irene’s headaches and melancholy are rendered to make the reader feel the pain and the depression as she experiences it.  As a reader I found it arduous to dwell in Irene’s maladies when I wanted to scream at her to get away from her narcissist husband.  Gary’s obsession with building a cabin without plans or elementary skills when he knew that Irene hated the island and its isolation was unpleasant to read and he seemed too insensitive to be real. Their daughter, Rhoda, sees her mother’s descent as a problem and she tries to help but she has her own demons.  She’s lived with her wealthy boyfriend for a year and they have a future but Jim is exhibiting much of the same lack of empathy for her life as her father shows her mother. The minor characters add a Stephen King aspect to the novel contributing even more to the disquieting atmosphere. When visitor Monique seduces Jim, the writing sizzles and evokes a scene as visual as one by Tennessee Williams and with some of his same psychological intrigue. 

Readers will need strong stomachs for dysfunction and misery to tolerate the despondency and enjoy the beauty of the writing.  David Vann is clearly an adept novelist with breathtaking talent. This novel deserves five stars for the luminous writing but I can only grant it  three for readability.  Vann clearly prepares the reader for the stark conclusion and for the manner in which the sins of the past visit future generations but for me that still didn't  make it easy enough to accept. Vann writes: "Those who couldn't fit anywhere else came here, and if they couldn't cling to anything here, they just fell off the edge."  As a reader, I fell off the edge while reading this novel.  Usually I’m grateful for a novel capturing me so fully but I just couldn’t swallow that much tragedy in one book.

Summing it up:  Read this dark, morose novel about a dysfunctional couple who set off to build a cabin on a remote island in Alaska coupled with the story of the effect of their lives on their adult children for the writing but know that it’ll be disheartening.

Rating: 3 stars for readability/5 stars for the writing  
Category: Fiction, Gourmet

Publication Date: January, 2011

What others are saying:

The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jan/29/caribou-island-david-vann-review

New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/23/books/review/Canty-t.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2

Los Angeles Times: http://articles.latimes.com/2011/feb/06/entertainment/la-ca-david-vann-20110206

The Paris Review: http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2011/02/10/david-vann-on-%E2%80%98caribou-island%E2%80%99/

A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear

In Jacqueline Winspear's early novels, Maisie Dobbs was a perceptive, plucky and competent investigator sensitive to shell shock’s damage and the unseen aftereffects of war.  In A Lesson in Secrets, set in 1932, Maisie seems to be juggling too many mysteries and relationships to do justice to all of them.

Maisie Dobbs, a truly unique character, first appeared in 2003 to much acclaim.  In this the eighth entry in the series, Maisie’s boyfriend James is in Canada on business leaving her confused but with time for new endeavors. She has a new secretary with a mystery of her own.  But the main thrust of the novel is Maisie’s acceptance of an undercover assignment overseen by both Scotland Yard and the Special Service that has her teaching at a Cambridge college devoted to promoting peace where some of the college’s non-British professors may be leaning toward the burgeoning Nazi party. 

When the college’s controversial founder and a famed pacifist author of children’s books is murdered and his secretary disappears, Maisie tussles with the Secret Service as she tries to catch the murderer.  The novel is at its best in describing the attraction of the Nazi Party to Britain’s upper classes.  But too many subplots and unnecessary coincidences make the rushed ending less satisfying than the earlier titles.

Summing it up: Start with Maisie Dobbs and Birds of a Feather then wend your way through all eight Maisie mysteries including A Lesson in Secrets.  The last installment doesn’t live up to the early novels but it’s still an enjoyable escape.

Rating: 3 stars      
Category: Fiction, Chinese Carryout, Mysteries and Thrillers

Publication date: March 22, 2011

Author site: http://www.jacquelinewinspear.com/lesson-in-secrets.php

What Others are Saying:

Kirkus Reviews: http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/fiction/jacqueline-winspear/lesson-secrets/

Publishers Weekly: http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-06-172767-2

Meet Einstein by Mariela Kleiner, illustrations by Viviana Garofoli

Meet Einstein is a joy of a book for children ages 2 – 6.  Its illustrations will enchant young children and they’ll wow their parents and teachers.  Until I read this gem I hadn’t realized how much the preschool world needed an energetic book about light, gravity and the world of science.  Viviana Garofoli’s bright illustrations make science colorful and exciting.  When I opened the book the end papers captured me and I envisioned young children staring intently as they determined the use of each tool from the “rock pick: to break apart big rocks and make little rocks” to the “balance so I can test if one thing is heavier than another.” 

Seeing Einstein discovering new things about gravity will enthrall preschoolers as they view a playground where children go down a slide and a girl hanging on a jungle gym loses her headband. If you need a gift for any young child, buy this book – they won’t have anything like it.  And for parents there are clever facts and questions to ask so they can keep up with the kids. Donate a copy to your library and help encourage children to believe that science is cool and “maybe one day you will be a scientist too.” 

Summing it up: I absolutely adore this ode to light, gravity and science that made me run in search of preschoolers so I could share its color-filled illustrations and excitement. Children will beg to read this charming concept book.

Rating: 5 stars     
Category: Peanut Butter and Jelly

Publication date: March 1, 2011

What Others are Saying:

ForeWord says: “it’s cool indeed.”